People keep comparing it to the Street Triple, but the descriptions say that it's been intentionally made roomier and more upright than the FZ8, which was already a good bit bigger than the Triumph.

As for the fuel capacity, I would hope that, since this is a new, ground-up, world-model engine, that they've put some work into fuel economy and it can get at least mid-fifties. Just 54 mpg would be enough for a 200 mile range from that tank.

I would certainly hope so. Although 54mpg is enough to get 200 miles when you run the tank completely empty. It'd be nice to get 200 miles before you hit the reserve. This is my expectation since I can hit anywhere between 180 and 200 miles before I hit my reserve. Let's say it has 0.7 gallons for reserve (mine currently has 1 gallon, I think) to make the math easy. You'd then need 67mpg to hit 200 miles after expending only 3 gallons.

++I don't know of any 900cc bike that gets 54mpg (23 km/liter) unless you're riding to optimize fuel economy above all else (say, steady 45mph, no accelerating). The closest is the TDM900, which gets ~20km/liter for a sport-touring mileage mix (for the US Arsians who aren't familiar with it, it's a jack-of-all trades Yamaha vertical twin, and weighs 192kg/422lbs dry, so it's a reasonable comparison)... but it has a 20-liter tank. At significant speeds, the dominant issue w.r.t. fuel economy is wind resistance (goes up with 3d power of speed), not the engine. That's why once you normalize to weight, motorcycles in general have really bad fuel economy compared to cars. You need to fully enclose a motorcycle (incl. the rider) to do well.Since the FZ-09 is completely unfaired, I doubt it'll be able to do well at cruising speeds.

I'd like a bike to be able to do 300mi (incl. reserve) under realistic conditions (cruising at 120-130km/h), or 250mi under more aggressive ones: Faster sprints, urban riding, temporary engine problem, 2-up touring load...A cross-wind alone can reduce mileage by 20-30% (causing me to run out of gas on the Texas-New Mexico border once on a cross-US trip. The location that supposedly had a gas station did, but it had closed sometime in the 1930s, going by the glass pumps and prices of 30 cents/gal posted. Looked just like the movie Café Bagdad).

Also, if the triple engine is going to be their new "world" engine, I sure hope they do with it what Honda is doing with their new 500cc engine and offer up different models using the same engine. It'd be nice to see the naked street fighter FZ-09 followed up with a FZ-09 Fazer (half faired) or FZ-09R Fazer (fully faired), or even something like an FZ-09 dual-sport-ish thing like the Versys. A supermotard version would be awesome too.

Given their current financial situation, it would be pretty dumb of them to design a brand new engine for a single bike. I guess the mid-size naked format is one of the best selling segments in Europe, so it makes sense to do this first.

You can see where the windshield would attach and there's plenty of room under the tail for some V35s (assuming there's something sturdy under there to attach the racks to), so I wouldn't be surprised to see some nice touring options for it. A basic screen, luggage and some bar risers and I'd travel on it.

I suppose I am risking my street cred here when I tell you that, for me, the CBR is too much fun to ride. I am never below 7,000 RPM. It is infinitely more fun than the ZX-14R I had a few months ago. (Seriously!) I feel like every ride is 9/10th effort and I am learning about a lot of bad habits I have gotten in to because in the past I had ample HP to mask them. The paint/sticker job is pretty slick, too.

Nah. You're not risking any street cred. If anything, you're enhancing it. You've learned the joy of low powered, light motorcycles. They're insanely fun, you can flog them hard on the street and only be doing a little bit over the speed limit, and lightness beats pretty much everything for grins per mile.

I enjoy riding the Blast quite a bit. It's a good city bike, and it's a good bike to flog and have some fun with because it's not blindingly fast.

As I described it in New Mexico, hitting an onramp hard, nailing it around it, pinning the throttle wide open and merging onto the highway is about the same fun on the Blast as on the 1125R. The only difference is that on the Blast, I finish the process at 75-80mph in a 65mph zone, while on the 1125R I'm rapidly accelerating through 130mph at the same point.

Same grin factor. Lower jail factor. It's just not possible to ride a superbike hard on the street safely.

Due to the location of my work place there's no large coherent motorcycle parking area around it, with people parking motorcycles wherever there is room. This week, I'm at an office park with a large, coherent motorcycle parking area, and its awesome. Like browsing at a motorcycle dealership, but with much more variety in the bikes on "display", and the people you're chatting with aren't trying to sell you stuff (mostly )

Given their current financial situation, it would be pretty dumb of them to design a brand new engine for a single bike. I guess the mid-size naked format is one of the best selling segments in Europe, so it makes sense to do this first.

Mid-sized naked and + half-faired touring, actually, and as already noted you can built both models from the same frame with minimal adjustments (beyond the fairings, of course).

I took the 1125 yesterday & today for a number of reasons (mostly relating to the Blast being in the corner of the garage, the XB9 being set up for my wife suspension-wise, and needing a motor). I was coming home solo at 9PM on I-405 and forgot just how quick this thing is. It's very instant about things like speeding up and slowing down. Still hates sitting in traffic, though.

I took the 1125 yesterday & today for a number of reasons (mostly relating to the Blast being in the corner of the garage, the XB9 being set up for my wife suspension-wise, and needing a motor). I was coming home solo at 9PM on I-405 and forgot just how quick this thing is. It's very instant about things like speeding up and slowing down. Still hates sitting in traffic, though.

There's an 1125 with only 4000 miles on it for sale near me for only $3500. There's gotta be something wrong with it for that price. If only I had a garage.

Just passed 500 miles on the commute in to work this morning...almost time for my first service interval.

Which will be important, because I'm getting set for a 2000+ mile ride of the week of the 4th...heading out across CO to Grand Junction, staying one night there, then into SLC, staying there for the night, then going to try to iron butt it all the way to central Idaho from there. Taking my camping gear with me just in case the butt doesn't agree to that much abuse.

I really, really need to find a gel or air cushion for my seat. Any recommendations? The airhawk sounds nice, but none of the sizes look like they'll be a good fit for the OEM seat on the V-Strom.

So since I just got a new chain, should I bring it back in after 500-600 miles to check for tightening requirements, or should I be good for the next 2500 miles until my 18k tuneup?

Just check it yourself. The swingarm should have the recommended measurements listed (or in your manual). Just throw in on the center stand, bring a measuring tape, and give it a check. Takes just a couple of minutes and saves you an appointment.

So since I just got a new chain, should I bring it back in after 500-600 miles to check for tightening requirements, or should I be good for the next 2500 miles until my 18k tuneup?

You should tighten it when it's loose. That depends very heavily on riding style.

Miles 0-500 on a chain are no different from miles 2000-2500. There's no break-in like on an engine. That said, if you're rough on your chain from heavy roll-ons or engine braking, you'll need it tightened sooner. If you're easy on your chain, you'll need it tightened later.

Even if you're unwilling to tighten your own chain, you need to learn to check it yourself. I just kick mine up with my boot and eyeball it. If it moves about an inch and a half, it's ok. If it's really tight or really loose, I do something about it. You should do the same, except your "do something about it" is taking it to the shop to be tightened.

Don't say "damn". It may be a few hundred miles shorter length out of 10k. You're gonna replace the chain at some point, it's really not a big deal, and I wouldn't change my riding style because of it.

I engine break a lot. Comes from my habit of doing it on manual transmission cars. The times where I really worry about it is when I've lost track of what gear I'm in and I slam it into first, causing me to lurch forward in the saddle. I'm sure that's not good for the chain. But second gear and up, it's not that bad. Whatever. The sprockets and chain are getting replaced this weekend anyway (I'm at around 22000-23000 miles on them right now).

Don't say "damn". It may be a few hundred miles shorter length out of 10k. You're gonna replace the chain at some point, it's really not a big deal, and I wouldn't change my riding style because of it.

Chains are easily replaceable dude. Hell I've put 17k km on mine and I think I can get another 10k out of it easy and I engine brake like crazy. I'm finding I don't have the same comfort level this year I did last. It might be because by this time last year I had nearly 4k km on and this year I haven't broken 1k due to terrible weather and being out of the country.

Also, spending a week riding a bike I can physically pick up makes me feel like I am riding a giant pig of a bike.

You'll get about 20 to 25kkm out of a chain with minimal maintenance (apply spray every 500km, clean chain once a year in spring or when its at the workshop because they throw a thorough cleaning of the entire motorcycle in as a goodie), or you can get 25-30kkm with futzing around a lot: Cleaning the chain regularly (lolwut?), not doing any long-distance riding in rain because there is no way really you can keep it properly lubricated through 1500 km worth of rain, stick to paved roads, ... To me the second option sounds awfully boring while being a lot of work.

A rider will save money on stretching brake pad replacement intervals by judicious use of engine braking far more than they will lose money by actual stretching of the chain. It's not even close.

I got over 40K miles out of the pads on my K75. Even then, the fronts didn't quite need replacing. The rear looked brand new. So, even on shaft-driven bikes, I never use my brakes. They only slow you down.

I want to attach my two hard aluminum side boxes for my trip tonight but I hate how they make the bike slightly wider for lane splitting...but often I forget they're there and lane split unconsciously and I've never hit anyone.